Help WAshing a New Baby Quilt

I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

Here's the advice I've gotten so far.

WAsh it in the washer, but don't agitate. Just swish it by hand. Dry
flat until it's nearly dry
then fluff it on low heat.

WAsh it in the bath tub but don't wring it. I'm not sure how this
would be accomplished.
And it sounds hard. Dry it on the clothesline with a towel covering
the line.

Use Dreft

Use a clear liquid detergent with no perfume. I already bought the
dreft, and it definitely
has a perfumy smell, and it's yellow.

Don't use woolite. It will yellow the fabric.

Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash cycle to keep the colors bright.
This one scares me.
It's a new quilt. The colors are already bright.

It's got prairie points, so I want to make them lay nice and flat
somehow. Maybe lay flat and
just smooth with my hand while they're wet?

Okay, I know, Iknow; this quilt will survive many careless washings in
its lifetime. But I
want it to look really nice for the presentation. I guess I'm just
kind of vain that way. :-)

Thanks for any of the collective tricks that I know you all have up
your sleeves.

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Sherry

Every time I finish a quilt I wash it, using regular laundry soap,
cold water, and the gentle cycle, and then toss it into the dryer. I
figure that if it's going to fall apart or have some little problem, I
want to know so I can fix it. And I want the quilt to be 100% freshly
clean before I give it away. I am a traditional quilter, and the ONLY
"modern" thing I do is use a rotary cutter and mat, so every stitch is
by hand.

I wash every finished quilt: best to know before giving if anything
weird will happen to it! And I don't coddle them either. They go right
in the machine, program for colored stuff, normal detergent (they are
all cotton). then into the regular drier. I assume that's what will
happen to them in their new homes! They shrink 3-5%, which is what I
want them to do anyway for a nice texture. (If you pre-washed your
W&N, maybe it won't.) But then I don't worry, the recipient won't have
palpitations the first time she washes it, and I know it's clean and
fresh.

There's no law that you can't press your prairie points after washing!
Goodness, press the entire quilt if you want!
Roberta in D

On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:00:18 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:

I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

Here's the advice I've gotten so far.

WAsh it in the washer, but don't agitate. Just swish it by hand. Dry
flat until it's nearly dry
then fluff it on low heat.

WAsh it in the bath tub but don't wring it. I'm not sure how this
would be accomplished.
And it sounds hard. Dry it on the clothesline with a towel covering
the line.

Use Dreft

Use a clear liquid detergent with no perfume. I already bought the
dreft, and it definitely
has a perfumy smell, and it's yellow.

Don't use woolite. It will yellow the fabric.

Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash cycle to keep the colors bright.
This one scares me.
It's a new quilt. The colors are already bright.

It's got prairie points, so I want to make them lay nice and flat
somehow. Maybe lay flat and
just smooth with my hand while they're wet?

Okay, I know, Iknow; this quilt will survive many careless washings in
its lifetime. But I
want it to look really nice for the presentation. I guess I'm just
kind of vain that way. :-)

Thanks for any of the collective tricks that I know you all have up
your sleeves.

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Sherry

Sherry, when you dry it on 'just gentle' in the dryer, set a timer to
summons you after 5 or 6 minutes. While it's still a little damp, pat and
pull it all flat and square. Our kitchen counter is the best spot here;
don't know about your home. Many quilters put a clean sheet on the floor
for this but the QI *Could not* leave it undisturbed. I'm with Roberta, if
something dastardly is going to happen, I want to know. Polly


"Roberta" Roberta@Home wrote in message
...
I wash every finished quilt: best to know before giving if anything
weird will happen to it! And I don't coddle them either. They go right
in the machine, program for colored stuff, normal detergent (they are
all cotton). then into the regular drier. I assume that's what will
happen to them in their new homes! They shrink 3-5%, which is what I
want them to do anyway for a nice texture. (If you pre-washed your
W&N, maybe it won't.) But then I don't worry, the recipient won't have
palpitations the first time she washes it, and I know it's clean and
fresh.

There's no law that you can't press your prairie points after washing!
Goodness, press the entire quilt if you want!
Roberta in D

On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:00:18 -0700 (PDT), Sherry
wrote:

I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

Here's the advice I've gotten so far.

WAsh it in the washer, but don't agitate. Just swish it by hand. Dry
flat until it's nearly dry
then fluff it on low heat.

WAsh it in the bath tub but don't wring it. I'm not sure how this
would be accomplished.
And it sounds hard. Dry it on the clothesline with a towel covering
the line.

Use Dreft

Use a clear liquid detergent with no perfume. I already bought the
dreft, and it definitely
has a perfumy smell, and it's yellow.

Don't use woolite. It will yellow the fabric.

Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash cycle to keep the colors bright.
This one scares me.
It's a new quilt. The colors are already bright.

It's got prairie points, so I want to make them lay nice and flat
somehow. Maybe lay flat and
just smooth with my hand while they're wet?

Okay, I know, Iknow; this quilt will survive many careless washings in
its lifetime. But I
want it to look really nice for the presentation. I guess I'm just
kind of vain that way. :-)

Thanks for any of the collective tricks that I know you all have up
your sleeves.

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Sherry

In article
,
Sherry wrote:

I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

snip

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Sherry


Sherry, if everything has already been prewashed, you shouldn't have
problems -- a dangerous assumption, probably, but that's been my general
experience. I'd go ahead and wash the quilt on a normal setting (cool
water, though, as you don't want it to fade before you give it away
G). Then dry almost completely, letting it dry flat at the end to make
it look as square (rectangular?) as possible. As Roberta said, I'd want
to know if anything was going to go wrong before I gave it away.

Got pics? G

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net

Agreed.

If something's going to happen---whether it's a seam pulling out, dye
bleeding, whatever---better it should happen to me than the person I'm
giving the quilt to. I can probably fix it, and if I can't, I'd rather have
to tell the person "Gee, I had your quilt done in time, but something went
wrong with it, so I'm going to a be a bit late with version 2.0" than have
them feel guilt for years for "ruining" my work.

I do tend to toss in a color-catcher sheet on that first finished-quilt
wash, though. Other than that, no coddle at all--washed exactly the same
way I expect them to wash it.

--pig


On 10/31/09 01:10, in article
, "Mary"
wrote:

Every time I finish a quilt I wash it, using regular laundry soap,
cold water, and the gentle cycle, and then toss it into the dryer. I
figure that if it's going to fall apart or have some little problem, I
want to know so I can fix it. And I want the quilt to be 100% freshly
clean before I give it away. I am a traditional quilter, and the ONLY
"modern" thing I do is use a rotary cutter and mat, so every stitch is
by hand.

I use the washing machine on normal cycle and dry normal as well. When
it comes out I iron and starch a little just for presentation looks. I
don't iron or starch any of the blankets that are in normal use.
Joanna

Sherry wrote:
I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

Here's the advice I've gotten so far.

WAsh it in the washer, but don't agitate. Just swish it by hand. Dry
flat until it's nearly dry
then fluff it on low heat.

WAsh it in the bath tub but don't wring it. I'm not sure how this
would be accomplished.
And it sounds hard. Dry it on the clothesline with a towel covering
the line.

Use Dreft

Use a clear liquid detergent with no perfume. I already bought the
dreft, and it definitely
has a perfumy smell, and it's yellow.

Don't use woolite. It will yellow the fabric.

Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash cycle to keep the colors bright.
This one scares me.
It's a new quilt. The colors are already bright.

It's got prairie points, so I want to make them lay nice and flat
somehow. Maybe lay flat and
just smooth with my hand while they're wet?

Okay, I know, Iknow; this quilt will survive many careless washings in
its lifetime. But I
want it to look really nice for the presentation. I guess I'm just
kind of vain that way. :-)

Thanks for any of the collective tricks that I know you all have up
your sleeves.

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Sherry

On Oct 31, 11:32*am, Joanna wrote:
I use the washing machine on normal cycle and dry normal as well. When
it comes out I iron and starch a little just for presentation looks. I
don't iron or starch any of the blankets that are in normal use.
Joanna



Sherry wrote:
I handquilted this one and it was slow going. So I feel like I've
"wallered" this quilt around for weeks, plus
I've got this new and disgusting problem with my hands sweating. TMI,
I know. Point of the
story is that I really feel this one needs to be washed before
gifting.

Here's the advice I've gotten so far.

WAsh it in the washer, but don't agitate. Just swish it by hand. Dry
flat until it's nearly dry
then fluff it on low heat.

WAsh it in the bath tub but don't wring it. I'm not sure how this
would be accomplished.
And it sounds hard. *Dry it on the clothesline with a towel covering
the line.

Use Dreft

Use a clear liquid detergent with no perfume. I already bought the
dreft, and it definitely
has a perfumy smell, and it's yellow.

Don't use woolite. It will yellow the fabric.

Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the wash cycle to keep the colors bright.
This one scares me.
It's a new quilt. The colors are already bright.

It's got prairie points, so I want to make them lay nice and flat
somehow. Maybe lay flat and
just smooth with my hand while they're wet?

Okay, I know, Iknow; this quilt will survive many careless washings in
its lifetime. But I
want it to look really nice for the presentation. I guess I'm just
kind of vain that way. :-)

Thanks for any of the collective tricks that I know you all have up
your sleeves.

All the fabric was prewashed, and the batting is Warm & Natural, it
was prewashed too.

Thank you all! The washing was a stellar success. I washed it in the
washer on gentle, smoothed it out on the clothesline, fluffed it
in the dryer. Then I sprayed just a tiny bit of that high-dollar
starch
I bought (Mary-something-lavender) on the prairie points, smoothed
them out and finished drying it flat.
Then I stood back and looked at it. I am usually my worst critic. When
I
finish a quilt, I never think it's good enough. This was worse,
because
it's the first quilt ever I agreed to make for *money*. But I looked
at it
and thought, Hey! This is good.
I never want to do another one though. Gifting a quilt is fun. Selling
puts
way too much stress in it, and it wasn't worth it. I'd rather have
been
working on Christmas gifts. Someone saw the quilt I made grandson
in the quilt show and asked me at a weak moment and I said okay.
Thanks, all!
Sherry

HOOooooEeeee, Sherry, you've learned a lot. Creating a quilt to sell would,
I think, just smother me. I can be bought, however; $ 20,000 or so might
do it. Other than that, I just don't think I could. Don't think I could
handle the pressure. Polly

"Sherry" wrote, in part Thank you all! The washing was a stellar success.
I washed it in the
washer on gentle, smoothed it out on the clothesline, fluffed it
in the dryer. Then I sprayed just a tiny bit of that high-dollar
starch
I bought (Mary-something-lavender) on the prairie points, smoothed
them out and finished drying it flat.
Then I stood back and looked at it. I am usually my worst critic. When
I
finish a quilt, I never think it's good enough. This was worse,
because
it's the first quilt ever I agreed to make for *money*. But I looked
at it
and thought, Hey! This is good.
I never want to do another one though. Gifting a quilt is fun. Selling
puts
way too much stress in it, and it wasn't worth it. I'd rather have
been
working on Christmas gifts. Someone saw the quilt I made grandson
in the quilt show and asked me at a weak moment and I said okay.
Thanks, all!
Sherry

In article ,
"Polly Esther" wrote:

HOOooooEeeee, Sherry, you've learned a lot. Creating a quilt to sell would,
I think, just smother me. I can be bought, however; $ 20,000 or so might
do it. Other than that, I just don't think I could. Don't think I could
handle the pressure. Polly


Join the club! :O I've noticed that one of the first things many people
ask when they find out that we're quilters is, "Do you sell your
quilts?" Nope. Not me. I think it would take all of the fun out of
making them.

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net